One of my first blog entries was “Tips for the Casual Dxer.” Now, I have another tip:

The night before a major DX contest, get on the air and work the stations warming up for the next day’s events.

I did this exact thing yesterday. Tuning around 15m, I worked in quick succession:

• PY1NX, who was booming in with 20 dB over S9 signal;
• PJ4/KU8E; and
• V47Z, a new country for me.

I probably could have worked a bunch more, but I got a little tired of simply sending 599s. It was nice to work the new country, though.